Gulfstream celebrates G250 first flight

Flown by IAI chief test pilot Ronen Shapira, the G250 took off from Ben Gurion International Airport today at 8:16 a.m. local time. During the flight, which lasted 3 hours and 21 minutes, the pilots tested the business jet’s flight-handling qualities and characteristics, and performed initial checks of several aircraft systems.

The aircraft was flown to 32,000 feet and achieved a maximum speed of 253 knots.Shapira commented that the flight was “extremely smooth with no issues.” IAI’s Flight Telemetry System enabled IAI and Gulfstream flight-test engineers on the ground to monitor the G250 aircraft systems in real time during the flight, as well as record the data from the first flight test point.

“The G250 performed extremely well, just as we expected,” said Pres Henne, senior vice president, Programs, Engineering and Test, Gulfstream. “We’re looking forward to 2011 when we’ll begin delivering this aircraft to the customers who had tremendous input in its design.”